Young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’

Helplines insight briefing

Publication date September 2024

Young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’

This briefing shares children and young people’s experiences of so-called ‘sextortion’, a form of online blackmail that involves the threat of sharing nude or semi-nude images or videos to extort money or force someone to do something against their will.

Drawing from contacts to Childline and the NSPCC Helpline in 2023/24, the briefing explores:

how sextortion occurs and how it can escalate
the impact on young people’s wellbeing
how to spot the signs
how to talk to young people at risk.

It also offers guidance for reporting and disrupting incidents of sextortion, should a child’s image ever fall into the wrong hands.

Young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’
Download the briefing (PDF)

“I recently got tricked into sending nudes to whom I thought was a girl, but I now know to be a grown man. They threatened to post my nudes on socials unless I paid them. At first, they wanted £20 so I sent it to them. Then they came back asking for £30, £50, sometimes more.”

Boy aged 16, Childline

“I sent nudes to this boy on Snapchat. I thought I could trust him, but I was wrong cos he saved the images to his camera roll. Now he’s threatening to post them to my friends and family unless I do stuff on FaceTime. I don’t know how to handle this, I’ve never been so anxious in my life.”

Girl aged 15, Childline

Citation

Please cite as: NSPCC (2024) Young people’s experiences of online sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’. London: NSPCC.

Childline and NSPCC Helpline Insight Briefings

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